[gnso-whois-wg] FW: Important WHOIS decision in Australia

["Milton L Mueller" <mueller@xxxxxxx>]

Interesting precedent. Note the date.

-----Original Message-----
Sent: Tuesday, September 23, 2003 11:04 AM
Subject: Important WHOIS decision in Australia

Tuesday, September 23, 2003

ASIC Fails To Get Full Access To Whois Data
Mandy Bryan

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission has failed in a bid
to gain unfettered access to the Whois database of Australian website
owners, in a policy review finalised yesterday. ASIC and other law
enforcement agencies had argued during public consultation that they
should be granted bulk access to the database. The consultation related
to the annual review of policy surrounding the collection, use and
disclosure of Whois data.

Australia's domain name regulator, auDA, ruled in its updated policy
yesterday that law enforcement agencies must request full data on a
case-by-case basis during official investigations.

"We do not believe that it is appropriate to compromise the integrity of
the Whois database and privacy of registrants merely for the convenience
of law enforcement officials," auDA's chief, Chris Dispain, said.